If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Pictures from Northridge and LA

Last week, I had the opportunity to attend a reunion of sorts for last year's trip to Japan that was part of the Everest launch. A highlight of that trip was a side journey to the small Japanese city of Ichinoseki, around 400km north of Tokyo. Our destination was the famous jazz bar "Basie" that is owned by jazz drummer Shoji Sugawari; better known to his fans as Swifty. In return for his hospitality, Swifty was invited to visit the US this September, and in particular, visit JBL's facilities at Northridge. Joining Swifty was his wife and daughter and he was escorted by Ken Yasuda (president of Harman Japan) and Koji Onodera (chief editor of Stereo Sound magazine). The first series of pictures were taken at our first meeting at Northridge. The image immediately below is of Swifty and Greg Timbers at the Northridge front entrance. The second picture was my revenge for being ribbed for acting like a sterotypical Japanese tourist in the number of pictures that I take. At least I'm usually draped with only one camera, unlike Koji below. The last three pictures were taken from a guided tour of Northridge's main manufacturing floor. The fourth picture has the group examining the disassembled drivers from the Everest.

All of the next series of pictures were taken from the manufacturing room devoted to assembly of high-end JBL and Revel loudspeakers. The first image shows two Everest enclosures rolling down the line as drivers and networks are installed. The second picture shows the manufacturing standard examples of the various systems assembled in this facility. I was surprised to find actual assembled systems used to set the manufacturing standard as I assumed that a set of stored performance parameters would fully describe any standard. While such performance parameters are an integral part of quality control, Greg explained that they cannot be relied upon exclusively. There are too many environmental variables (temperature, humidity etc) that cannot be effectively modeled. Therefore, a physical standard that is exposed to the same environmental conditions as the production units remains necessary for comprehensive quality control.

The third photo shows a 1501AL driver being installed in one of the Everest enclosures. The fourth picture shows an S5800 and S4428 on the production line. The last picture shows a finished example of the just released S4600. This is a three way system utilizing an LE14 woofer, 175nd midrange driver and ultra high frequency driver.

This next series of photos mainly regard an extended listening session of the S4600 and Everest. The S4600 is an amazing system that in Greg's words "sounds better than it has any right to" given its much smaller scale and I couldn't agree more. Still, it is not, and has no pretense, of being an Everest as illustrated by Swifty's rapt attention to this statement system in the second photo. The third photo shows left to right, Anthony, Greg Timbers, Koji Onodera and Ken Yasuda. In the fourth photo, Mark Gander joins us in the board room bearing gifts.

Later that day, we were invited to Greg Timbers's home for a listening session of his custom built stereo and home theatre. This system is described in detail here. Suffice it to say that this ranks as the finest system I have heard in a home environment. For this visit, we were joined by Paul Bente, president of JBL. He is pictured at the back left in the fourth photo.

The next day involved a visit to Ashcraft Designs, run by Dan Ashcraft who is responsible for the industrial design for the vast majority of JBL's high end systems for the past 20 years. In the first picture, Dan (standing far left) introduces us to his firm's associates. The second photo is in Dan's office. The third photo gives an overview of the main design office. This is new space for Dan's firm that has only occupied for two months. They are still working out the final remodeling which has resulted in a former warehouse becoming a visually striking workspace. The fourth photo illustrates a pair of JBL Ti10k speakers flanking a vintage pair of C38 Barons. The final picture illustrates the kitchen area of the office.

Deja Vu

On the right side of the fourth picture in post #2 picture is an enclosure (K2 S5800 I think) with a piece of tape affixed with the letters "STD" on it. What does this mean? It's the second time I've seen this, the first being on the boxes my S2600s came in. Is this JBL speak for something?

-----------------------------

It's nice to see Greg Timbers has a "normal" room at home for his gear. (Even though the gear is not normal.)

Thank you very much for the little picture show that was most enlightening the smiles on there faces went from one end of the factory floor to the other LOL it was has if there had there noses up close to candy shop window, feasting there eyes on the wondrous JBL products.

Do you have any more pictures to come along oh yes please, Don that was exciting.

I like those JBL project arrays delicious.

That’s how I usually listen to my JBL control series most times Zen and peacefully listening to the soundtrack or music, Zen.